The present invention relates to a rotary microwave switch composed of a housing having a rotor-accepting cavity and a plurality of waveguide ports and a rotor disposed in the housing cavity and equipped with at least one waveguide, with this waveguide producing, at a certain position of the rotor, a signal connection between two waveguide ports.
Such a rotary switch is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,652, issued to Shishido et al. Such rotary switches having, e.g. four or even six signal inputs and outputs, respectively, are used, for example, to connect standby devices, such as transmitters and receivers, into a communications transmission system in place of malfunctioning primary devices.
Particularly in communications satellites, high operational reliability is required. For that reason, standby devices must be provided which can be used as substitutes for defective devices. For the switches that switch in these standby devices there exist the requirements, as for all other component groups in a satellite, for low weight and small size.
The rotary microwave switch disclosed in the above-cited patent is designed entirely on the basis of rectangular waveguide technology involving the use of closed waveguide sections; this applies for the waveguide ports in the stationary housing as well as for the waveguides on the rotor. Because the switch design is based entirely on rectangular waveguide technology, it is relatively heavy and has relatively large dimensions.